We got up around 7:45 a.m. and headed downstairs. Matt was up and shared his pictures from his recent China trip with us. The pictures were great and we got some great tips for our upcoming adventure to Asia in 2008.
We then headed into the Atlanta to the Google office. We grabbed a snack for breakfast and did a ton of trip planning. We bought airplane tickets, reserved hostels and hotel rooms and took care of a bunch of loose ends. We took a break at lunch time and headed into the Google cafeteria to have lunch on “Mexican Day” with Nina, Matt and a bunch of Katie’s former co-workers.
After lunch we put in another two hours of “work at the office” and then packed up our stuff, said goodbye to Hot-Lanta. It was time to get back on the road and head north towards Wilmington, N.C. We made a gas stop in Augusta, GA. Dermot tried to get a tee time at Augusta National, but they were not very accommodating. By the time we hit Columbia, S.C. we were hungry so we let tripadvisor.com suggest The Blue Marlin for dinner. We had great southern food (shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes and crab cakes) and with fully bellies we got back in the car.
We looked at the weather forecast when we arrived in Wilmington, N.C. and saw that thunderstorms were likely, so we bagged our camping plans and got a cheap hotel room. The front desk clerk wife’s maiden name was Barnett, so we got a $5 discount off our room rate. The room had free wireless, so we dropped off our stuff worked on the internet for an hour or so and then called it a night.
Day 38: In Search of King Neptune & the Fab Football Champion